Murder and mayhem are rare in the affluent suburbs of the Tri-Valley, where you’re more likely to catch an elbow at Whole Foods than a bullet. But property crime — specifically shoplifting, vehicle breaks-ins and nonviolent thefts — have surged as of late.

All five cities in the region in 2015 posted their highest totals for thefts in at least four years, and overall the region experienced a 42 percent increase in such crimes.

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Michael Romano, a Stanford professor and one of the authors of the legislation, said blaming Prop. 47 for crime increases is premature and inaccurate.

“There is no empirical evidence whatsoever that Prop. 47 is associated with any increase in crime,” Romano said.

According to Romano, state data provided in December by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation showed that the recidivism rate for prisoners released under the law has been 5.4 percent compared to 34.4 percent for other prisoners over the same length of time.

Misdemeanor crimes can still be punished with up to a year in prison and Romano said that law enforcement agencies, district attorneys and judges have huge amounts of discretion when it comes to how they treat low-level offenders.

He also said that rising property crime in specific locales over short time periods simply is not sufficient to draw such sweeping conclusions.